Have a blessed Easter.

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Words & Music: Robert Lowry, 1874; appeared in Brightest and Best, by Robert Lowry and W. Howard Doane (New York: Biglow & Main, 1875) (MIDI, score).

Mission Impossible -- Accomplished!

Yesterday I set three goals for myself. Did I accomplish them? You tell me. :)

1) Two loads of clothes washed and dried. Of course, the towels aren't folded and my second load is still in the dryer but. . . who cares, heh?

2) Three "treasure boxes" emptied: magazines, half-filled notebooks, old Christmas cards, newsletters, pictures. Yes, I did throw some of it away, but unfortunately, I tend to keep more than I discard. The garbage bag isn't near full, but my stack of To Keep magazines is toppling over. I saw that Cyndy Salzmann was giving a chat tonight and if I'd joined in I might have won a free personal clutter coaching session. That was enough to keep me away. I was actually scared I'd win. :( I can watch de-cluttering programs on TV and hyperventilate.

Cyndy has an entire list of things to chunk. Check it out at http://blog.cyndysalzmann.com/ Just reading her list made me a little queasy.
Tomorrow I'll take another look at my floor. . . and the garbage bag. We'll see what happens.

3) I'm on Chapter 8 of Miranda's Mistake. I'm so excited. I gave Alex his head and it's working out fine. Of course, when I finally sit down and read what I've written and start fleshing out, I might be unpleasantly surprised. For now, just let me write to the end.

A Picture's Worth How Many Words?

If I didn't have so much time on my hands, I'd be more productive. When I worked an eight to five job, I churned out more articles, short stories, poems and completed novels than I have during the past ten years. One of those novels was written with a toddler under foot and three relocations because of my husband's work. So what's wrong with this picture?

I'm getting ready to meet a friend for lunch. As I blow my hair dry, wonder what I'm going to wear, mentally peruse the menu at the cafe we frequent, an idea for an article pops into my head. It has to do with something I experienced a long time ago and I have to wonder--why now? Why is it coming to mind now when I can't sit down and do anything about it.

Answer: When I'm physically active, my mind is active. And that makes me wonder how reclusive authors create stories when they never leave the house? Interaction with life is so important to a writer. It sure affects my writing.

Now we know what's wrong with the picture; we've identified my problem (okay, at least one of them) so what am I going to do about it?

**** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** **** ****

I'm almost ready to move on to chapter 8 of my novel. Seems like I've made a lot of progress in the past few days, but keep in mind how I write: mostly dialogue. There's no emotion and very little description. I'm getting the story down and only adding body language or showing the setting when it spews naturally from fingertips pounding keys. This is how I wrote the book that sold - got it down, then went back and layered and layered and layered. I write faster this way, and the editing and fleshing out seems easier too. There's something to be said for spontaneity. Amazing that even fast, sparse writing contains an element of emotion. Odd thing, this pulling together a novel.

I still have some research to do regarding the court system. Thankfully, one of my crit partners is an attorney so she'll be helpful. I should make notes so I can pick her brain during our next meeting.

I have three goals to accomplish tomorrow:
1) Get into chapter 8
2) Empty and dispose of three boxes in my office.
3) Wash clothes
Three very simple goals. We'll see if I accomplish them.

Husband will be home from Scotland mid-May. Life will change.

I'll Take a Small

Small, intimate writers' conferences are fun and comfortable. A new writer can often make friends for life, not to mention a few connections. Huge conferences--while wonderful in a number of ways--can overwhelm a newbie, have her holding up the wall at mixers or weeping in her hotel room. Why not practice for the big ones by attending a small one first? I promise, you won't regret it. :)

The ETBU Christian Writers Conference - A small conference in Marshall on the East Texas Baptist University Campus. Check it out. This looks like a good conference for beginners.
http://www.etbu.edu/News/CWC/default.htm

The Writers Guild of Acadiana in Lafayette, LA is always an excellent conference with much to offer in the way of professional editors, agents and authors. They sponsor a contest and encourage entries whether you attend the conference or not.
http://www.writersguildofacadiana.org/

Inspirational Writers Alive! - Houston, TX
I've attended one of their conferences. They have a contest too. Their website seems to represent all their chapters so you have to fumble your way around. A sweet conference to attend.
http://www.lampsalight.com/IWA/iwa.htm

Bayou Writers Group Third Annual Fall Conference-Lake Charles, LA
I attended the BWG conference last year and it was very good. 2007 promises to be even better.
http://www.geocities.com/bayouwritersgroup/

Those Puppy Dog Tails

When I was young I had a dog named FiFi, and no she wasn't a poodle. She was a mutt that just showed up one day. I begged to keep her. In those days anything French was wonderfully exotic to me so she became my black and white, long-haired, scroungy looking FiFi. Today I reminded myself of FiFi. All I did was chase my tail.

And now, my novel as taken an unexpected turn. I'm following my outline (or trying to) but today my hero learned some information that the heroine was supposed to discover. I'm not sure what to do about it. Do I let him have his way for a few pages and see where it leads, or do I back up now and follow my plan? This could make things difficult for me. Hero is pretty excited about his discovery but why wouldn't he be? If he has his way, the novel could end a good 100 pages too soon, he'll be cleared of any wrong-doing and can go on his merry way. Still, I can't help but wonder if there are some interesting surprises ahead.

I think I'll follow his lead. He'd better not turn out to be a Fifi.

No Whining Allowed ... out loud.

I'm on a writing roll, churning out pages. Wish it would continue. I think I'm producing because I haven't worried about submitting to my critique partners. I'm just writing. At some point they'll be hollering for pages and scheduling meetings, and then I'll have to stop, clean up a chapter and get it to them.

A writer acquaintance sends all her rough pages to her crit group, they clean it up, red-pen where she should develop, flesh out, layer, cut ... she follows their advice then sends it on to her editor. Yes, she's published--over and over and over again. I guess I have too much pride to send my rough stuff to my crit partners. Unfortunately, when I get my chapter back--all marked up--I realize it was rough. Glad I didn't know that beforehand. :-D

Crit groups are scary. They have the power to build up or completely destroy.
I've been in several groups through the years, some better than others. But really, I have no idea if any of them are good.

I'm taking another month-long, online class. This one is called Empowering Characters' Emotions taught by Margie Lawson. The first lecture alone was worth my $25.00. However, one of Margie's examples, She arched a well-plucked brow is a sentence I actually used in my wip, and it was cut by one of my crit partners. I'm not sure why--something about POV and how does she know her brow is well-plucked?Realistically, we could say she knows because she paid for that well-plucked brow. :))

It's so important to go with our gut when it comes to our own writing. We know what we want to say; we know what picture we're trying to paint. We have to develop our own style and our own voice.

James N. Frey stated in his How To Write A Damn Good Novel II that "The drop-out rate in a hard-nosed creative writing workshop is often 70 or 80 percent." I'd be one of the drop-outs. Give me a small intimate critique group--not 30 people staring at me and ripping my story to shreds.

And yes, I do agree that critiques are probably the best way to learn and we're in crit groups because we choose to be there; we shouldn't complain.

One of my favorite writing books is Make Every Word Count by Gary Provost. He stated: "Writing works best when you hypnotize the reader quickly and hold him spellbound until you're through with him."

That's exactly what I'd like to do with my critique group.

A Thinking Machine

My husband and I have lived in 13 different places during the past twenty-plus years. For the past year, he's been in Scotland, and when he comes home, more than likely we'll be facing relocation again. I left my 'nesting instinct' in one of those 13 places. Relocation always plays havoc with my creative side so I may have left that behind too. Moving is difficult.

Before packing one box, I do an Internet search for writing groups in the area. The sooner I connect with other writers the better off I am emotionally, mentally and yes, even physically. It's great to have writing friends lined up and waiting for me when I get to the next new town. Of course, that's only happened once. :(

I can hardly stand the thought of moving again. But, on the other hand, I can hardly stand the thought of going through another hurricane. In view of these two hardlies I'd say the best thing for me to do is to:

1) pray for God's hedge of protection around our home, family and friends.
2) turn it all over to God and let Him have our future since He's got it anyway whether I turn it over to Him or not. :)
3) pray for wisdom and
4) clean house.

I know from studying His Word that there's a reason for everything so Lord, heal my impatience and let me wake up every morning eagerly watching and listening for the surprises you have in store for me. Amen


I've been told I think and worry entirely too much. I'm always trying to figure things out. Here's a pic of my brain pattern. Works for me!

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is an incubator for good ideas, it just takes a while for them to develop. But when you think of something, watch out! Your thoughts tend to be huge, and they come on quickly - like an explosion. You tend to be quiet around others, unless you're inspired by your next big idea.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?